When you order prime rib and get spare ribs instead.
I expected Youku's short "Revenge" series to be a xianxia in disguise featuring the many hot re-incarnations of "The Best-est of the Chest-ests" Dai Gaozheng in all his topless smoking hot glory. If that is also what you are here for, let me save you some time because Bride's Revenge is nothing but chest bait. In this incarnation as Mu Anhe, Dai Gaozheng is over-dressed and so camera shy he is in hiding for over a third of the drama. When he reappears, it is uncomfortably obvious there is no spark between the leads. While their chemistry is sweet and loving, it notably lacks the passion and intensity of the previous incarnation.The plot is uncannily similar to Maid's Revenge where two related men Mu Ancheng and Mu Anhe duke it out over the family assets and a woman. Except this time a bunch of "green tea bitches" scheme, bitch slap and scratch each others' eyes out over a scrawny and unappetising scumbag. That entire arc of not very smart people trying to out dumb each other made ten minutes feel like an hour. Even a happy ending cannot save this drama. The dissatisfaction level is just like when you order prime rib and get spare ribs instead. Give this one a pass unless you are super bored and need a quick Dai Gaozheng fix. And in that case, just watch the last three episodes or better yet, rewatch Maid's Revenge.
I generously rate this 3.0/10.0 because Dai Gaozheng is still the chesty definition of hotness.
Was this review helpful to you?
Highly entertaining revenge-plot short show
I really liked this short show. The storyline revolves around a revenge plot based on two happenings. These happenings lead FL to go full-blown revenge-bitch, LOL. The storyline doesn’t take itself too seriously so I had a great time watching the many schemes FL and others in the household come up with. It’s fast paced without any fillers which I personally love about these short shows.I know many viewers compare this show to “Maid’s Revenge” but they really shouldn’t since this is an entirely different kind of story. I admit that the revenge theme is similar but the things that happen and the backstory is not.
Character wise we have this strong FL who is clever and cunning. The ML is rather weak but changes drastically due to the thing that happens to him. 2ML is a cunning and shrewd man with violent tendencies. Nothing gets to stand in his way and nothing is worth more to him than his ambition. Of course there isn’t much character depth because of the short format, but the characters are whole and not just one-dimensional.
Acting wise this is great. All the main actors do a great job with the little time they have.
So, if you love a strong revenge plot show without fillers, this is definitely well worth watching.
Was this review helpful to you?
Compared to Maid’s Revenge or not, it’s still good
Unlike many people, I’d say this is as good as Maid’s Revenge but in a very different way : while MR would focus on the hot steaming romance and DaiDai’s incredible charisma, BR is more about a detailed scrip and a long-planned revenge.
Strangely enough, it’s like both dramas compensate in the other’s flaws : BR’s romance had a great potential but was a bit lacking, due to the real male lead not being present enough, even though his relation with the female lead was very beautiful and had great potential but the series would make up with a female lead who starts off as weak but grows very strong and smart after going through several tragedies, and an detailed, well written intrigue that focuses on a well-planned satisfying revenge ; on the other hand, MR’s assets would be a charismatic, passionate, devoted male lead that basically carried the whole drama thanks to a gem of an actor and a hot, steaming, intriguing romance but however would be flawed with a kinda stupid female lead (no blame on the actress), an intrigue that could be extremely frustrating for the viewer but also sometimes pretty weak in essence, especially on the revenge part and an unclear and unsatisfying ending
Was this review helpful to you?
Soapy goodness at it's finest. Popcorn drama thru and thru
I enjoyed this for what it was cheesy and campy goodness. You don't need logic to watch this one; just sit back and enjoy.I'll say that there is not much of a plot but for a 30 episode imini drama about revenge it worked. Yes it's overly dramatic at points but it entertains. I felt like I was watching a soap and I liked it. Even with how cheesy it got in certain moments I'll say the villains ending was one of the best I've seen when it comes to C-drama villain's end. No easy forgiveness or redemption here and for that I'll give it a higher score. Also because I did enjoy the campiness. I mean the writing does what it was meant to do. Make people laugh at the silliness but keep watching.There's very little romance as the story concentrates on the revenge plot but for the little of the romance I liked it. I gotta say I did like the overall onscreen chemistry between Qu Meng Ru and Dai Ghao Zheng. Best part for me
I'll say the acting is mediocre at best but for this type of drama it works. I did like the characters and found the motivations of the FL and ML understandable. It could have been much better yes but on sole entertainment value I give it a 7.5/10 because it did keep me entertained while I watched. It did make me cheer when the villain was defeated. One more thingg before I finish: at least in this one every one got what was coming to them if they were evil. And the ones that weren't got the ending they deserved. I say give it a try if you are in the mood to watch something similar to soap opera's. It's fun and even the OST makes you feel the essence of what Bride's Revenge is meant to be.
Was this review helpful to you?
Too much biitch fights =D
Caught this series via one of those short trailer snippets in my YouTube feed. My curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to hunt down the series to watch. Firstly, for a 10min long episode series, I find it having too many episodes. Then, there was the lack of music paired to it - in my personal opinion. Other than the really hunky Dai Gao Zheng, there isn´t much to look forward to. Too many "bitch" fights amongst the elder brother´s wives - hey... can even compete with those emperor and his harem series. Like some of the reviews I read, there is a lacking of chemistry between the male and female lead, which is sad in a way. It would be a nice to watch first time, but for me... not really appealing to watch the 2nd or more times.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Bride's Revenge is a well written and produced miniseries. This drama is about simply revenge and not really about the romance between the leading couple. Although there is certainly a nice, smart, and tender relationship between Ye Qing Lan (played by Qu Meng Ru) and Mu An Cheng (played by Vincent Wei), they don’t get together until the very end of the story, but the audience gets to see them working together to bring the villains to justice. The female lead starts as a nice and lovely girl that is force to become calculative and cold hearted by the antagonists in the story proving that, even though revenge is never sweet, it will sure give the victim a sense of satisfaction knowing that justice was served. The cast did a very good job bringing their characters to life and the drama was entertaining. Enjoy it!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Maid’s Revenge 2.0
Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “meh”.Spoilers ahead b/c I didn't follow the rules of writing a review. :D
The deets:
Young woman is forced to marry a comatose young man to “bring him luck” mainly so she can be blamed when he dies. This comatose person turns out to be the younger brother of her boyfriend (SML—though MDL has him first in the list after the FL. To me the SML is whomever DOESN’T end up with the FL) who is also getting married that same day to her cousin. This is supposedly the best she can get because, through absolutely no fault of her own, she was roofied and assaulted (by said ‘boyfriend’ in the hopes of forcing her to be his concubine—however ML interferes with the aftermath of this plan and SML never gets to “take responsibility” for his actions). However, in the classic manner of all patriarchal societies, it is of course, somehow, the girl’s fault whenever this happens. Anyways, ML does not die and turns out to be a decent chap. There is plenty of framing/blaming/torturing of the FL during this time—including causing her to have a miscarriage. SML succeeds in knocking off ML (or so we think…) and takes FL as his concubine (because she wants to stay in the family home and find out what happened to ML). There is lots of back-and-forth framing/blaming/torture between the SML’s three wives (and we’re expected to believe that SML only made FL sleep with him once more) while SML tries to gain control of a lot of local businesses and essentially makes a lot of dumb decisions and gets himself into a hot mess of debt. Our ML reenters the scene, totally not dead and having grown some huevos during his absence. After only a brief period of doubting our FL’s intentions, he works with her to bring down the SML in a dramatic showdown.
What I liked:
The FL had some steel in her the whole time. She wasn’t an idiot, didn’t take blame for things that were not her fault, and always got revenge. I liked that the misunderstanding between the FL and the ML about why she married the SML was short-lived and that they worked together equally towards a solution. It had a happy ending. I liked that it was a short drama. I liked that the costumes appeared to be a well-intended effort at historical accuracy (I find that, for especially the Western clothing, the attempts are half-@$$ed at best with accurate costuming in Republican-era dramas).
What I disliked:
The assault for one. They did a decent job of not showing a blow-by-blow, but it was still there. Mother-in-law was an awful person, yet both the ML and FL were nice to her and mourned her loss. This drama also asked you to dispend disbelief a great deal and to just trust that things had ‘magically’ happened in a certain way.
Should you watch this?
I don’t know. It was short, the male leads were easy on the eyes, the FL was not a brainless idiot. I only watched this because I watched Maid’s Revenge (…speaking of brainless FLs…) and I wanted to see Dai Gao Zheng in something else. If you’re in a dry spell and can handle the fact that the FL has the trauma of assault in her past, then it’s a quick watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I don't think the title is appropriate
It was not only bride's revenge but it was more like brother's revenge . Story about two brothers who loved same girl . Both genuinely loved her . But one of the brother need both money as well girl but at that time he didn't know that his brother loved her. But something had happened the girl married with good brother but bad brother never forgot her and keep on pursuing her . But greediness is bad thing ,in order to become a rich he did wrong with everyone his love ,his brother and as well his mother . So basically his brother (good one )took revenge because he (bad brother) ruin his and his wife's life .I didn't like the story .
I like actor who played good brother role . Because of him I watched the drama . I watched his two mini dramas and they were good.
Was this review helpful to you?
feuilleton
Cosa dire? è terribilmente cliché e recitato di conseguenza: overacting a go g, specie da parte dei protagonisti maschi, e situazioni oltre ogni limite della plausibilità. Complotti da asilo Mariuccia e situazioni per cui per ogni minima contrarietà volano punizioni esemplari, alla lunga sono un po' stancanti.I costumi sono molto piacevoli, così come le ambientazioni e gli attori, che non saranno il massimo come recitazione ma che si lasciano tutti guardare senza opporre resistenza, compreso il cattivissimo della situazione al quale gli occhiali donano parecchio.
Nonostante la storia in sé sia talmente sopra le righe da rifare il giro e ricominciare dal sol, nonostante le esagerazioni e le scenate di dubbio gusto, nonostante un finale assurdo in cui la polizia consente ad un criminale di agitare un coltello, nonostante tutto sembri congiurare per evocare l'idea di un disastro ferroviario, non sono riuscita a fare a meno di guardarlo fino alla fine. Pur con la distinta sensazione di star sprecando il mio tempo, non sono riuscita a staccarmene fino ai titoli finali. Vuol dire che tutto sommato, in mezzo a questa fiera del Cliché di cattivo gusto, qualcosa di buono c'era. Probabilmente si è appellato ai miei istinti più bassi.
Per conto mio, per essere un drama dedicato alla vendetta, il cattivissimo ha sofferto troppo poco. Opinioni personali. Così come è una mia personalissima opinione che, almeno in questo specifico drama, Dai Gao Zheng abbia apportato una piacevolissima presenza fisica, ma una scarsa presenza attoriale.
Was this review helpful to you?
